Therapy Putty

The following activities can be done with the therapy putty and charms given to your child in their Therapy to Go bag.

Targeted skills 

• Fine motor: grasping, dexterity, coordination of both hands
• Wrist, hand, and finger strength

Reminders

• Remind your child not to put the putty or the charms in their mouth. These items can be choking hazards.
• Keep the putty away from things like carpets and clothes. The putty can stick to them.
• Put the putty back in its container when your child is done playing with it. This keeps it from sticking to clothes or drying out. 

Activities

Rescue the charms

1. Hide charms inside the therapy putty so they cannot be seen.
2. Give your child the putty to hold. Or put it on a flat surface.  
3. Ask your child to find and pull out all the charms from the putty.
4. Ask your child to put the charms on a flat surface as they take them out. 
5. Hide the charms back in the putty to play “Rescue the charms” again. 

Squeeze the putty

1. Hand the putty to your child. 
2. Ask them put the putty in the palm of their hand.
3. Ask your child to make a fist, squeezing the putty with 1 hand. 
4. Ask your child to roll the putty to their fingertips and squeeze it again with 1 hand.
5. Repeat this exercise, moving the putty from the palm to the fingertips, until your child’s hand feels tired or as many times as the therapist recommends. 

If the therapist tells you to, have your child do the exercise with the other hand. 

Roll and pinch the putty

1. Put the putty on a flat surface. 
2. Ask your child to roll the putty into a shape like a log or a worm.
3. Have your child use their thumb and pointer finger to pinch all the way down the putty to make it flat.  
4. Repeat this exercise until your child’s hand feels tired or as many times as the therapist recommends. 

 If the therapist tells you to, have your child do the exercise with the other hand. 

Pull apart the putty

1. Give your child the putty.
2. Ask them to hold the putty with both hands.
3. Have them pull the putty apart using both hands at the same time.
4. Ask your child to squish the putty back together.

Repeat the exercise until your child’s hands feel tired or as many times as the therapist recommends.

How to clean therapy putty out of fabric

Remove the putty

1. Use your fingernail or the edge of a spoon to scrape off as much of the putty as you can.
2. Use extra putty to make a ball. 
3. Roll the ball over the stuck spot.
4. Pull it away quickly.

Clean the area

1. Put a small amount of rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) or hand sanitizer on a cotton ball. 
2. Hold the cotton ball where the putty was for 30 seconds.
3. Rub and scrape off any putty that remains.